Seriously, its clearly not about music or even expanding your consciousness anymore. Its about getting rick rolled, and distracted by light shows and glitter.
@@thatkidfromnh As someone with experience in the UK it's all about drugs, booze and getting shifaced while watching Travis Scott get piss thrown om him.
This report disregards big festivals like defqon1, Qlimax, Fatality, Intents, dominator, and many others in other genres who put music first over selfie content
The experience it’s better because seriously why does Ariana Grande deserve to get paid $8,000,000? Also when you are on drugs, it’s really hard to keep up with the music, so everything becomes one experience
Bordiga Armchair - We = just edm in general. Concerts and festivals are completely different so don't get them mixed up. But concerts have existed forever, but edm invented music festivals
I’ve never understood why people go to music festivals for reasons other than the music. You can get hammered with your friends anywhere at anytime for a fraction of the cost.
One weekend we had a couple grateful dead shows lined up...well for one of em;I got really drunk, and my buddy just would never let me forget It! Kind of a waste to be wasted for grate music😏
Cuz for edm festivals, artists play other artists music. It doesn’t matter as much who mixes the music as long as it’s good enough and you’ll hear most of your favorite edm songs anyway.
Knowing people who actually work, run, and oversee festivals- it's not that the "8 million" goes straight into the pockets of the artists- it's the cost to produce the show...the effects, the crew, dancers, living and work expenses..etc etc. the artist takes a fraction of it- I personally see that the costs are rising bc people want to see a SHOW. they want the big effects and the expectations continue to rise- and that's a huge price driver. Also- nowadays- safety is A HUGE priority so a lot of costs are going into security systems, security crew and accommodations... so it's not just one single source- but the hype of festivals to be curated to a market- making it bigger and better every year- drives the price up
This sounds dumb but like really do we need all those special effects like when i go to a festival I wanna see the artist perform and not the special effects or the screens it just seems like a big waste of money honestly
Went to a daddy yankee concert one with a great show, fire and stuff, dancers, all of it. The ticket was quite cheap for that. I don’t believe that you can even spend 1 million on these side things and salaries for ONE artist.
Don´t take it as gospel but I heard rumours that Tomorrowland makes about €35m+ for each of their events at Boom. But it´s the same concept as mentioned an American firm with a franchise.
A festival like Boomtown allows such a spectacular spectrum of experiences. One person may spend 100% of their time invested in the "story"/"experience" whereas the next person might spend 100% of their time sniffing ketamine and bopping to DnB. Or you could choose to see an incredible selection of live rock/folk/punk/hip-hop etc. Or a big messy mix of it all. Its beautiful.
@@BowlofIndoMee like most festivals they're totally against drugs but a metric fucktonne of will find it's way in regardless. There used to be an independent group there allowed to test people's drugs in order to reduce the likelihood of someone ingesting something super dangerous which I think helped keep a lot of people safe.
I pay $10 for admission to underground raves around Denver that have amazing music and ecstasy flowing like candy. Screw the retarded overpriced big-name festivals.
Places like boomtown really set the standards for experience festivals. It makes you feel like you moved into a real town with thousands of people having the time of their life with so much happening all the time and the music is just the icing on the cake
I go to festivals for the experience. My girlfriend drags me to Download and local festivals in Wolverhampton and Coventry which are usually cheap or a tribute act festival I'm not into rock or metal music so the experience of drinking in a field and enjoying the atmosphere and especially the food is what draws me in :)
What I don't get is, what else can you go to a festival for instead of experience? They keep going on about experience, but an expensive artist is also experience. Are they just trying to say atmosphere, and that expensive artists don't contribute so much to the atmosphere? What the hell
I've been working in the music industry for about 7 years and I work on about 20 music festivals a year. Y'all complain how festivals are expensive but don't really understand how much really goes into running a festival. This video only scratches the surface of the cost. There's so much more that goes on behind the scenes that we as professionals have to do to ensure that you get the best quality experience whether you're there for the music, atmosphere, or to be with your friends. As festivals grow bigger the cost of running them increases, a festival that once held 25,000 people can't operate the same way once it holds 100,000 people in it. Also what the video fails to mention is how many people work at a festival and how much festivals have to spend to pay their staff especially those who make it their livelihood like myself. So when you look at the grand scheme of things a $250 ticket which is the average price for a 3 day standard festival ticket ( not including VIP or any upgraded packages ) that grants access to see a whole bunch artists both big and small plus the environment that we spend a huge amount of time and money to create to enhance your experience is really not that expensive for you to attend. I mean if you really wanted festivals to be cheap then we can not give a shit and every festival would end up like Fyre and then y'all would bitch about that so festivals are really not that expensive to go to as this video claims. Also it's also not fair for this video to compare Woodstock to Coachella because both festivals are in a different place in time, money was valued differently in the 60s and 70s , and the music industry was a whole lot different. So The Economist needs to do better research as to why festivals are more expensive instead of giving general facts that everyone knows
Tomorrowland makes at least €35m from every event, these are big wins not forgetting the tax paid to the Belgium government that makes 20% on every ticket.
Tim Julian is that before or after expenses? A Tomorrowland employees 12,000 people and books over 1000 DJs..... And also that’s not just from ticket sales..... a full 3 day standard GA pass for Tomorrowland is $280.. that’s not that expensive when you consider what you’re getting.... what’s more expensive is the fact is traveling to and from Belgium and also it’s a camping festival so you got to provide enough food and drinks for people to live off of for 3 days, so they have to make bank off just concessions... Also let’s not forget merch sales.... Yes, I agree Tomorrowland is expensive to go to but not because of ticket sales but more so of just maintaining yourself...
@@mirak3050 typical entitled/spoiled child response. He gave a factual, legitimate explanantion for what it takes to make a festival happen--- and likely still didn't cover every cost. Lots of people care, or this video would not exist.
Another thing to take into account is the kind of person that usually enjoys festivals versus the kind of person that doesn’t. If someone doesn’t particularly like big crowds or is susceptible to anxiety in these kinds of situations, they probably won’t go. I personally hate the concert going experience, and would only attend if I could go with close friends and see artists that I’m really interested in. That being said, I can see why the festival experience would be appealing. I’ve heard from many that when you go to the right festival, you feel “at home”, and that everyone is super welcoming and friendly. No matter how pretentious it may sound, it makes sense to pay for an experience rather than a material item. An experience sticks with you forever, and can not ever be repeated. But there will always be a bigger TV coming out next year, or a pair of shoes that are nicer than the last. The few concerts I have been to were amazing, and I’ll treasure those memories forever. These memories spark joy. Being forced to pay for AirPods because new iPhones don’t have headphone jacks does not spark joy 🙃
A lot of people go just for the ass and tits. I know that was the highlight of my time spent at a music festival. The rest was a mediocre experience for the money. Either that or to get reaaaaallly high.
I've only been to European rock festivals, but considering how many bands and artists you get to see in 4 days or so, i'd say the price isn't that high. If you were to go see all of these artists individually you'd pay 100 times more
That's just it though, you're not gonna see that many bands in proportion to the entire line up. With multi stages playing simultaneously, 80% of the festival you're gonna miss anyway.
@@1980extremeGbut when you think about it, even if you miss 80% of the line up, it's still an amazing deal. attending 5 shows a day for 4 days for only 300 $ is bargain.
@@missoudz8733 Fair point. I love live music and have seen many bands over the years, my festival experiences are mixed (been to 5 in my lifetime) but I prefer gigs these days now that I'm older.
Big festivals cost a lot because the owners are making money hand over fist, and people are willing to pay it. That's the only reason. There's no other reason.
Of course they are. They are overhyped events with their youtube streaming. they make a lot of money from youtube hits, it doesn´t just end with entry fee & food & drink inside the event.
I used to go to Ultra in Miami every year before the big boom when it was only a 2 day festival. As the years went by it got bigger and bigger and I noticed the difference in the attendees. That's when I quit festivals all together. Of course drugs and alcohol were always a big part of these kinds of festivals but at least many years ago people actually followed the artists performing and knew the music. My friends and I always planned our day to make sure we saw the artists we liked even if it meant separating for a couple hours since we didn't like all of the same artists.
Interesting video, although a few thoughts: 1. very selective interview clips to tell a story. E.g. I'm pretty sure at other festivals people go for the line up. 2. comparing Coachella with Woodstock (for explaining how expensive artists are nowadays) is weak, as Woodstock was of very different nature and attracted a completely different crowd compared to Coachella today. 3. I don't agree with the notion of experience economy only. I'd say we are hybrid experience-industrial. What are your thoughts?
There's also a difference in countries. In The Netherlands are so many festivals and.. yes people are truly going for the experience. In America artists are such a bigger thing than in Europe. I think needs are different for each continent.
We are an experience economy, not an industry. Most of the production for american shit, is made overseas as it is, anyways. And every single product we buy, we are told by commercials "will vastly improve" quality of life. Our culture is so empty and soulless, because we've created an environment where we're told we need to do/buy/see/hear/taste (experience) a specific activity/object in order to be seen as cool and to be loved by everyone else. Our culture is all about experience and the buying of it. And we're all morons because we can't do unless we have from without, instead of being satisfied from within.
Coachella, Tomorrowland etc are so cancerous and I can't imagine paying that much for a single music festival. I go to festivals for the music, and not to be on a freaking catwalk.
I've been to Tomorrowland twice, its nothing like that. European crowd are passionate unlike americans who spend their whole time filming their experience rather than dancing.
It's actually not that ridiculous, considering the fact that EDC has grown tremendously since 2007, they are obviously offering a lot more since then. There are more acts, more stages, way bigger venue, and lots of non-music additions to the festival.
Excellent! I now understand why I have not been drawn to festivals since Lolapalooza I & II. I am simply not looking for a communal experience but rather good or interesting artists I want to see.
As a former stagehand/audio engineer, the headliners are most of the cost. we can do it cheap, but with it being built fast and torn down fast it's not cheap. Also depending on the site, there are union and the overtime. An average stagehand can easily pull at 16 hr day at a festival, charging overtime/double rates per their contract. This isn't including most festivals rent their equipment, such as lights, sound and stages.
Drugs guys, A Festival having a good "Experience" is just a euphemism for being able to get wasted, do drugs and hook up (In a place of like-minded people). I'm not personally against it, because I don't deny it's fun, but let us be realistic here. Just an opinion I can't possibly test.
I spend my summers working at music festivals across the UK, and don’t go hooking up xD I go because I can just have a laugh with people, and have fun away from the real world, where people aren’t too serious, like the people in this comment section
I think this is why, especially in the uk, with "oldskool rave" type of events making a comeback. The experience of hearing "that" tune from years ago with strangers is a powerful bonding experience, and something in todays modern digital online insular society is something that is missed. the very notion of wanting to experience this, with others and experience a moment in time, a snapshot, a memory, is something we all long for like a drug that once you've done it draws you back. i personally go for the music, yep there might be artists that drawn you in, but sometimes you might experience something new, something ethereal and that is a powerful draw
Festivals can be hit or miss. It really depends on the line up and how it is organized. And that can change every year. But i mostly go to Festivals because of the atmosphere and music. You can do whatever you want and be whoever you want. It is a big party and everybody just wants to have a good time and if you are lucky enough you can even find a girl/boy for one or two "intense" nights. I love festivals.
I always choose the festivals based on the lineup. And also (maybe not including the biggest festivals) paying 200-300 Euros (I'm from Germany and an EDM fan) for a weekend is ok for me when I can see 12 to 15 artist I love to see performing live. Moreover to me the question arises what would I pay if I visited every single one in concert?
i agree with the festival goers! the lineup draws you in but it is really about the party atmosphere and having a good experience with friends and strangers! its like escaping reality for a few days. Ive met some awesome people at festivals.
07:50 Investment into a truly transformative experience. Those kind of festivals already exists. Burning Man is the top of the list. City wide SXSW type festivals.
Large festivals are basically cities and you need a lot of infrastructure, staff, supplies, and of course talent to make it all work. And that costs a lot of money.
These big companies make it more and more difficult for independent venues to survive, because they also manage the artist tour in their local venues. And transformation, isn’t that Burning Man?
The last festival I attended was Woodstock 99. The corporate greed was so obvious...felt like fish in a barrel. Left Sunday morning before the chaos. I don't condone this behavior, but I totally understand why it happened.
normally i wait for the lineup but for outside lands i bought the eager beaver cause i just love the festival! it truly is an awesome experience to me! and then i got lucky cause the lineup turned out hella good
She has a huge production crew, who needs pay. She doesn't just go on stage alone and sing. Before the concert a huge crew builds the stage, she brings everything from instruments to light. The rest of the band needs pay aswell.
@@allmonti9861 the clothes don't cost anything compared to the actual production, it's like comparing a water bottle to a massive swimming pool, or a row boat to a yacht
@@MikuHatsune12 True her outfits were probably only between $10-20,000 which would be quite a small part of the total cost, I was just listing random things smarty pants but thanks for clarifying :)
I've been to many festivals since I turned 18 years old. Yes, most of the time I buy my festival ticket based on the lineup, but I can promise you everybody attending the festival could listen to these artists in any other way, Soundcloud, TH-cam, Spotify, whatever. The experience, the atmosphere, the day/weekend/week of escape from daily routine make people come back to festivals every single time. I've been to Mysteryland 3 times in a row now, and honestly, this year's lineup was pretty shit. Nevertheless, I had one of my greatest Mysteryland experiences this year.
Odd. I actually quite detest festivals BECAUSE of the ambiance. I have yet to experience one that hasn't felt like the longest day ever with uncomfortable and punishing conditions. The lineup is the only thing that's ever reeled me in.
Quite an interesting video. Ruined by the plinkety plonk plucking music that every documentary uses nowadays. The festival market is over crowded, the costs high and the risk of not selling enough tickets is always there.
thats why i like festivals like senstation black in the 2000s because the overall experience was more about different themes and stories like they had a future scifi space theme with aliens and so on
To be honest, I don't think festivals are expensive considering all the organisation needed and how much you have to pay the acts. For most of the acts you'd pay £30 for their own gig
Olivia Smitherman yeah, but if you were to attend the artist’s gig, you’d see them perform for about 2 hours or even more, whereas at festivals they perform what? 4-5 songs? 15-20 mins max
Spirit JRM yeah, i’m sure it depends on the festival, but most of them don’t have concert like performances, so there’s not really a point in taking into consideration how much you’d pay for a gig ticket vs festival ticket imo
@@stnopl1178 True but a lot of big festivals are starting to allow artists to bring their own set. Coachella is known for this. All big to medium stage acts were able to bring their unique stage set up for their 1+ set.
This is very contradictory in itself. 2:42 - an independent festival vs a “corporate” festival is going to profit even more since their production is in house, higher ticket price, lower food/drink/necessity cost. Where the 50x example is brought up. It’s not wrong... but that means Coachella only needs $80-130 for what you end up paying. $400+ for way past the point of breaking even. Lastly... if you do your research... 60%+ of festivals in the US are owned by the likes of AEG, LiveNation, Goldenvoice, Ultra, and all subsidiaries.
Though I wasn't even born in the 60s and 70s, I can see that nowadays people only come to music festival just for the aesthetic more than the 'music'. I wouldn't want to go to a place packed with sweaty human beings just to 'feel the aesthetic and experience', I want to see my favourite musicians performing on stage!
The problem with modern music festivals is more and more people are too busy 'experiencing' i.e. talking through the music others paid a lot of money to see.
Hard summer 2019. 170,000 festival goers at lest say a low cost of 100 dollars. What the hell does 17M dollars go to exactly 😂 EDC 2019. 450,000 attendees at a cost of 300 before taxes comes out to 135,000,000...
The needs for festivals are different per continent. In Europe people are truly going for the experience. When I was in Ibiza, I spoke with some Americans who were suprised that we liked so many dj's in Europe and we didn't care about artists as much as in America.
You are correct, however steering into festivals, I have noticed the festival industry has acknowledged carbon contribution and have started to reducing their footprint. In Perth, Western Australia where I come from, most major music festivals have free public transport to and from the venue reducing the amount of car travel. As there are more younger people going to festivals, festival organisers are also trying to sell to the Eco friendly consumer.
@@carlosesteves9951 no its not ..western countries are most polluted .they send all there garbage in poir countries like Indonesia , sri lanla , phillipines ..
@@NitzVision Depends on the pollution type , mismanagement of waste is higher in developing countries with less structured waste removal, Western countries contribute to more CO2 emissions due to cars and air travel and meat consumption.
@@NitzVision make garbage , receive garbage are garbage... point is pollution is higher in those undeveloped places and the systems or thought process to fix that are not in place there... CHINA/India vs USA / Canada... bro no question which of those nations are cleaner and capable of making more so vs choking in on and from filth
I doubt they got paid less. They simply made money in other ways. Jimmy Hendrix probably made the majority of his money through record sales, merch, etc.
It's called being someone today. 'Fit in to stand out'. Read that sign the other day here in the dystopian Netherlands. Where people smile all the time and still use shitloads of antidepressants. One of the happiest nation that is also one of the most depressed. How ironic, isn't it?
ticketmaster greed is a big problem. i feel sad for todays youth. I grew up in the 70s, we made our own experiences. We had field parties, an open field, a flatbed truck a generator and some kocal bands (and kegs of cheap beer)
Can you please make a video to explain why these expos are so expensive, like siggraph, CES, comic con, they don’t even hire super stars. The vendors actually pay the organizers to get in for the exposure opportunities.
I find it quite ridiculous that some music festivals actually start selling presale tickets WITHOUT announcing the acts. And there are people who buy these tickets. I guess these are the people that come for the experience? But I find it unfair that people who truly come for the music have to pay a higher price ticket as those presale tickets are quickly sold out :/
This is starting to sound like temporary theme-parks for young adults. Who am I kidding myself, they are.
Linh-Thao Chung for the rich
Seriously, its clearly not about music or even expanding your consciousness anymore. Its about getting rick rolled, and distracted by light shows and glitter.
its WESTWORLD
@@thatkidfromnh As someone with experience in the UK it's all about drugs, booze and getting shifaced while watching Travis Scott get piss thrown om him.
Ah these are made for all the people who miss magiquest because they are too old now
Went to Boomtown this year, the attention to detail was insane. Genuinely like a small city
Boomtowns full of crustys and cunts.
Boomtown looked amazing🙌🏼
Not what it was 4/5 years ago.. Still hands down the best festival i've ever been to mind. Everyone needs to go at least once.
Adge Rantz full of Cunts? Sign me up
The cheap version of Tomorrowland
dunno about those people in the video, but I always put music first. With so many festivals to choose from I just select the ones with best lineup.
ya same here. i would weigh the music and the festival experience equally
This report disregards big festivals like defqon1, Qlimax, Fatality, Intents, dominator, and many others in other genres who put music first over selfie content
Or good vibes. I'll always go to bonnaroo bc the energy is amazing, & they always have amazing musicians, even if they aren't headlining.
I agree!
Damn dude, you're such a independent thinker, super cool
seems like I'm one of the 8%, because I choose a festival based on artists and music gerne.
Snap. Curious to what festivals were surveyed though. Went to Truck and there were pits for every single band I saw
I think it's based on the festival. People will go to Coachella/Tomorrowland because of the experience/flexing lmao.
I only go to edm festivals, because we pretty much invented them
The experience it’s better because seriously why does Ariana Grande deserve to get paid $8,000,000? Also when you are on drugs, it’s really hard to keep up with the music, so everything becomes one experience
Bordiga Armchair - We = just edm in general. Concerts and festivals are completely different so don't get them mixed up. But concerts have existed forever, but edm invented music festivals
You would have to pay me about 8 mill to go to coachella as well
well played
👏👏👏
Bravo👏
And that’s on periodt luv 💅🏽✨
I’ve never understood why people go to music festivals for reasons other than the music. You can get hammered with your friends anywhere at anytime for a fraction of the cost.
But on festivals, you can get hammered with strangers.
One weekend we had a couple grateful dead shows lined up...well for one of em;I got really drunk, and my buddy just would never let me forget It! Kind of a waste to be wasted for grate music😏
Cuz for edm festivals, artists play other artists music. It doesn’t matter as much who mixes the music as long as it’s good enough and you’ll hear most of your favorite edm songs anyway.
dontgoaway0 dumbest comment ever
@@EmiloTranquilo17 for real lmao
I am expert of watching TH-cam videos
you should write a book and call it "The TH-cam Economy"
@@michaelxz1305 it will be top seller book
We should get paid for watching so much
no i am
@@michaelxz1305 call it The TH-cam Recommendation Slave Epidemic
Knowing people who actually work, run, and oversee festivals- it's not that the "8 million" goes straight into the pockets of the artists- it's the cost to produce the show...the effects, the crew, dancers, living and work expenses..etc etc. the artist takes a fraction of it- I personally see that the costs are rising bc people want to see a SHOW. they want the big effects and the expectations continue to rise- and that's a huge price driver. Also- nowadays- safety is A HUGE priority so a lot of costs are going into security systems, security crew and accommodations... so it's not just one single source- but the hype of festivals to be curated to a market- making it bigger and better every year- drives the price up
And with the advent of streaming, people who physically go to see shows want spectacle. The money has to spread to a loooot of people.
This sounds dumb but like really do we need all those special effects like when i go to a festival I wanna see the artist perform and not the special effects or the screens it just seems like a big waste of money honestly
Went to a daddy yankee concert one with a great show, fire and stuff, dancers, all of it. The ticket was quite cheap for that. I don’t believe that you can even spend 1 million on these side things and salaries for ONE artist.
Festival Expert. I guess we have an expert for everything 😆
I should become the only expert in something really obscure, so then one day I can appear in a documentary.
Suraj Mahato I have over 60 videos all about Coachella on my channel so I’m trying to be an expert in Coachella lmao
Experience expert
Great see my EDM playlist for the best Festival music
my reaction *this is bullshit
“Experience” just means doing it for the gram
Don’t worry , the grocery store near me has a clout to cash exchange machine so it’s all good!
Jonathan Gonzales not true at all!
Jonathan Gonzales faxx
...and you happen to know this and say it on behalf of everyone else?
The gram? What does that even mean
Good video... but could provide more details on the economics of festivals...
They bring in jobs and money to the local economy. And taxes to the local govt. It's pretty basic.
@@pawfootage That's not all economics is Know It All
Well, of course man. If you have been working your ass off on something, for years, I think you can call yourself an expert
Don´t take it as gospel but I heard rumours that Tomorrowland makes about €35m+ for each of their events at Boom. But it´s the same concept as mentioned an American firm with a franchise.
Festival culture is pretty amazing, everyone is there to have an awesome time and they watch out for one another too.
Or just dress as Jesus and give out free hugs
@@savannahkrystall2698 Or Shaq, he was at a 3 day festival I was at a year ago, I think it's a meme ha
@@AlphaFoxDelta Yeah i saw that lmaoo he was hugeeee among this crowd of wayy shorter white boys LMAO
**Woodstock 99' intensified**
Only in the USA! Ultra Europe was like $140.00 for 3 days of music. Ultra Miami was priced over $300.00 for 2 days.
Ankur Shah Ultra Miami has a larger production and lineup tho.
Techn0way r u sure. Or is it what they say?
Ankur Shah Miami is better than Europe.
PHTX where ya from?
Reporter went to boomtown and took a lot of drugs.
KET TRIPS PILLS?
Yeah lol
Charlie Kent Mandy pills cokeeeee
@@fiftyclown I even heard the odd "GOLDEN BROWN?" 😂
A festival like Boomtown allows such a spectacular spectrum of experiences. One person may spend 100% of their time invested in the "story"/"experience" whereas the next person might spend 100% of their time sniffing ketamine and bopping to DnB. Or you could choose to see an incredible selection of live rock/folk/punk/hip-hop etc. Or a big messy mix of it all. Its beautiful.
yes it is , and working there is even more fun :) they let artists go wild , i mean really wild, its BRILLIANT !!!
They let ppl bring in drugs?
@@BowlofIndoMee like most festivals they're totally against drugs but a metric fucktonne of will find it's way in regardless. There used to be an independent group there allowed to test people's drugs in order to reduce the likelihood of someone ingesting something super dangerous which I think helped keep a lot of people safe.
Boomtown was the only festival out of 5 that I’ve been that I instantly wanted to return to, bring on next year!
@@Stevokear thanks
If you pay too much it means you're going to the wrong festivals.
dont agree. paid £260 for my boomtown ticket and dont regret anything
@@fiftyclown paid 175€ (~160 pounds) for dour festival 5 days, camping included. And drinks are cheap as fuck.
@@fiftyclown Then you havent payed to much in your own standard. I would never pay that much money for...this.
Paid 180 Swiss Francs for 3 days Greenfield Festival in Interlaken 😍 Just dont listen to pop music and prices go down quickly for festivals
I pay $10 for admission to underground raves around Denver that have amazing music and ecstasy flowing like candy. Screw the retarded overpriced big-name festivals.
Places like boomtown really set the standards for experience festivals. It makes you feel like you moved into a real town with thousands of people having the time of their life with so much happening all the time and the music is just the icing on the cake
Sounds like my worst nightmare.
I go to festivals for the experience. My girlfriend drags me to Download and local festivals in Wolverhampton and Coventry which are usually cheap or a tribute act festival I'm not into rock or metal music so the experience of drinking in a field and enjoying the atmosphere and especially the food is what draws me in :)
What I don't get is, what else can you go to a festival for instead of experience? They keep going on about experience, but an expensive artist is also experience. Are they just trying to say atmosphere, and that expensive artists don't contribute so much to the atmosphere? What the hell
@@adelnoppert370 as p
Soooo expensive! I go on holiday instead so much better! Not paying £14 for a slice of pizza after paying several hundred quid to get in!
I've been working in the music industry for about 7 years and I work on about 20 music festivals a year. Y'all complain how festivals are expensive but don't really understand how much really goes into running a festival. This video only scratches the surface of the cost. There's so much more that goes on behind the scenes that we as professionals have to do to ensure that you get the best quality experience whether you're there for the music, atmosphere, or to be with your friends. As festivals grow bigger the cost of running them increases, a festival that once held 25,000 people can't operate the same way once it holds 100,000 people in it. Also what the video fails to mention is how many people work at a festival and how much festivals have to spend to pay their staff especially those who make it their livelihood like myself. So when you look at the grand scheme of things a $250 ticket which is the average price for a 3 day standard festival ticket ( not including VIP or any upgraded packages ) that grants access to see a whole bunch artists both big and small plus the environment that we spend a huge amount of time and money to create to enhance your experience is really not that expensive for you to attend. I mean if you really wanted festivals to be cheap then we can not give a shit and every festival would end up like Fyre and then y'all would bitch about that so festivals are really not that expensive to go to as this video claims. Also it's also not fair for this video to compare Woodstock to Coachella because both festivals are in a different place in time, money was valued differently in the 60s and 70s , and the music industry was a whole lot different. So The Economist needs to do better research as to why festivals are more expensive instead of giving general facts that everyone knows
Jerson Galindo no one cares.
Tomorrowland makes at least €35m from every event, these are big wins not forgetting the tax paid to the Belgium government that makes 20% on every ticket.
Tim Julian is that before or after expenses? A Tomorrowland employees 12,000 people and books over 1000 DJs..... And also that’s not just from ticket sales..... a full 3 day standard GA pass for Tomorrowland is $280.. that’s not that expensive when you consider what you’re getting.... what’s more expensive is the fact is traveling to and from Belgium and also it’s a camping festival so you got to provide enough food and drinks for people to live off of for 3 days, so they have to make bank off just concessions... Also let’s not forget merch sales.... Yes, I agree Tomorrowland is expensive to go to but not because of ticket sales but more so of just maintaining yourself...
@@littlebasskid That is after expenses. You can type it into google. They do publish financial accounts being a Dutch based (American owned) company.
@@mirak3050 typical entitled/spoiled child response. He gave a factual, legitimate explanantion for what it takes to make a festival happen--- and likely still didn't cover every cost. Lots of people care, or this video would not exist.
Another thing to take into account is the kind of person that usually enjoys festivals versus the kind of person that doesn’t. If someone doesn’t particularly like big crowds or is susceptible to anxiety in these kinds of situations, they probably won’t go. I personally hate the concert going experience, and would only attend if I could go with close friends and see artists that I’m really interested in. That being said, I can see why the festival experience would be appealing. I’ve heard from many that when you go to the right festival, you feel “at home”, and that everyone is super welcoming and friendly. No matter how pretentious it may sound, it makes sense to pay for an experience rather than a material item. An experience sticks with you forever, and can not ever be repeated. But there will always be a bigger TV coming out next year, or a pair of shoes that are nicer than the last. The few concerts I have been to were amazing, and I’ll treasure those memories forever. These memories spark joy. Being forced to pay for AirPods because new iPhones don’t have headphone jacks does not spark joy 🙃
I think these "new experiences" are just good old mating rituals - which can also be easily mass-marketed these days like everything else.
This guy gets it
Exactly.
People go there to impregnate or get pregnant
A lot of people go just for the ass and tits. I know that was the highlight of my time spent at a music festival. The rest was a mediocre experience for the money.
Either that or to get reaaaaallly high.
@@arandomhandsomeman7725 i would not impregnate a random woman at a festival. That's a great way to mess up multiple people's lives. Oy
I've only been to European rock festivals, but considering how many bands and artists you get to see in 4 days or so, i'd say the price isn't that high. If you were to go see all of these artists individually you'd pay 100 times more
That's just it though, you're not gonna see that many bands in proportion to the entire line up. With multi stages playing simultaneously, 80% of the festival you're gonna miss anyway.
@@1980extremeGbut when you think about it, even if you miss 80% of the line up, it's still an amazing deal. attending 5 shows a day for 4 days for only 300 $ is bargain.
@@missoudz8733 Fair point. I love live music and have seen many bands over the years, my festival experiences are mixed (been to 5 in my lifetime) but I prefer gigs these days now that I'm older.
Big festivals cost a lot because the owners are making money hand over fist, and people are willing to pay it. That's the only reason. There's no other reason.
To make next years bigger better
Of course they are. They are overhyped events with their youtube streaming. they make a lot of money from youtube hits, it doesn´t just end with entry fee & food & drink inside the event.
I used to go to Ultra in Miami every year before the big boom when it was only a 2 day festival. As the years went by it got bigger and bigger and I noticed the difference in the attendees. That's when I quit festivals all together. Of course drugs and alcohol were always a big part of these kinds of festivals but at least many years ago people actually followed the artists performing and knew the music. My friends and I always planned our day to make sure we saw the artists we liked even if it meant separating for a couple hours since we didn't like all of the same artists.
Interesting video, although a few thoughts:
1. very selective interview clips to tell a story. E.g. I'm pretty sure at other festivals people go for the line up.
2. comparing Coachella with Woodstock (for explaining how expensive artists are nowadays) is weak, as Woodstock was of very different nature and attracted a completely different crowd compared to Coachella today.
3. I don't agree with the notion of experience economy only. I'd say we are hybrid experience-industrial.
What are your thoughts?
I thought exactly the same thing.
Of course the whole topic is too complex to squeeze into 8 minutes without simplification.
True
There's also a difference in countries. In The Netherlands are so many festivals and.. yes people are truly going for the experience. In America artists are such a bigger thing than in Europe. I think needs are different for each continent.
We are an experience economy, not an industry. Most of the production for american shit, is made overseas as it is, anyways. And every single product we buy, we are told by commercials "will vastly improve" quality of life.
Our culture is so empty and soulless, because we've created an environment where we're told we need to do/buy/see/hear/taste (experience) a specific activity/object in order to be seen as cool and to be loved by everyone else.
Our culture is all about experience and the buying of it. And we're all morons because we can't do unless we have from without, instead of being satisfied from within.
I go to festivals for the lineup. The first question anyone asks when you’re going to a festival is “who’s gonna be there?”
Coachella, Tomorrowland etc are so cancerous and I can't imagine paying that much for a single music festival.
I go to festivals for the music, and not to be on a freaking catwalk.
Introvert problems 🤷♂️
You clearly havent been in tomorrowland, its amazing
American festivals for you 😂 bunch of pussys
I've been to Tomorrowland twice, its nothing like that. European crowd are passionate unlike americans who spend their whole time filming their experience rather than dancing.
Zombie Killer There is filmers everywhere tho. We are living that kind of life that everything needs to be recorded sadly
1. Payment for all costs. 2. +Artist costs 3. +Nobody buys beer anymore premium 4. +Profit
Incredibly interesting as I am sitting here, preparing my sunglasses and XTC to go to a festival here in the Netherlands.
#Paradigm050
Defqon 😜
Oh heck yeah😂 hope it was fun
One of the best festivals i went to was Camp Flog Gnaw in 2017. The lineup and experience overall was amazing. Best weekend i had in a long time!
This was absolutely wonderful production! Very fun and informative, thank you!
The first music festival I went to was EDC 2007 and the ticket cost me about $50. I've seen EDC tickets cost up to $400 nowadays. Its ridiculous.
but how much less have you spent on buying music?
It's actually not that ridiculous, considering the fact that EDC has grown tremendously since 2007, they are obviously offering a lot more since then. There are more acts, more stages, way bigger venue, and lots of non-music additions to the festival.
Not expensive
Excellent! I now understand why I have not been drawn to festivals since Lolapalooza I & II. I am simply not looking for a communal experience but rather good or interesting artists I want to see.
They're expensive because charging more money is the best way to make more money. Not that hard to understand.
Feels like a vox video, even the ending. Improve on the editing and you're basically them (not a bad thing, with that said).
Yah I noticed that too
As a former stagehand/audio engineer, the headliners are most of the cost. we can do it cheap, but with it being built fast and torn down fast it's not cheap. Also depending on the site, there are union and the overtime. An average stagehand can easily pull at 16 hr day at a festival, charging overtime/double rates per their contract. This isn't including most festivals rent their equipment, such as lights, sound and stages.
Drugs guys, A Festival having a good "Experience" is just a euphemism for being able to get wasted, do drugs and hook up (In a place of like-minded people). I'm not personally against it, because I don't deny it's fun, but let us be realistic here. Just an opinion I can't possibly test.
I spend my summers working at music festivals across the UK, and don’t go hooking up xD I go because I can just have a laugh with people, and have fun away from the real world, where people aren’t too serious, like the people in this comment section
The Economist asking the big questions.
They're appealing to "fellow kids", and actually succeeding. 😬
Paid 64 times more and that woman (Grande) will never be a thousandths of Jimmy Hendrix' greatness.
Sam Wu I mean, to be fair, _nobody_ is ever gonna be at Jimmy’s level of greatness. That’s not a very fair comparison.
That woman is alive and rich though
as if she cares that she isn't of the same greatness to someone else according to someone online
Envision Festival in Costa Rica is the best example of a transformational experience.
There is so much logistics that go on behind the scenes
I think this is why, especially in the uk, with "oldskool rave" type of events making a comeback. The experience of hearing "that" tune from years ago with strangers is a powerful bonding experience, and something in todays modern digital online insular society is something that is missed. the very notion of wanting to experience this, with others and experience a moment in time, a snapshot, a memory, is something we all long for like a drug that once you've done it draws you back. i personally go for the music, yep there might be artists that drawn you in, but sometimes you might experience something new, something ethereal and that is a powerful draw
Festivals can be hit or miss. It really depends on the line up and how it is organized. And that can change every year. But i mostly go to Festivals because of the atmosphere and music. You can do whatever you want and be whoever you want. It is a big party and everybody just wants to have a good time and if you are lucky enough you can even find a girl/boy for one or two "intense" nights. I love festivals.
She's so right about taking selfies - half the time it isn't about how you look, it's about where you were and what you were doing
I always choose the festivals based on the lineup. And also (maybe not including the biggest festivals) paying 200-300 Euros (I'm from Germany and an EDM fan) for a weekend is ok for me when I can see 12 to 15 artist I love to see performing live. Moreover to me the question arises what would I pay if I visited every single one in concert?
I agree! Which sucks to me because say for UMF i'll end up having to buy a more expensive tickets waiting for final list of line ups haha
i agree with the festival goers! the lineup draws you in but it is really about the party atmosphere and having a good experience with friends and strangers! its like escaping reality for a few days. Ive met some awesome people at festivals.
07:50 Investment into a truly transformative experience.
Those kind of festivals already exists. Burning Man is the top of the list. City wide SXSW type festivals.
Large festivals are basically cities and you need a lot of infrastructure, staff, supplies, and of course talent to make it all work. And that costs a lot of money.
These big companies make it more and more difficult for independent venues to survive, because they also manage the artist tour in their local venues.
And transformation, isn’t that Burning Man?
Exemplary clarity and explanation as always. Thank you.
This was an AWESOME VIDEO!!!!
I have never been to music festival, but after seeing this, I want to go!
Festivals rarely make money in their first several years of existing
The last festival I attended was Woodstock 99. The corporate greed was so obvious...felt like fish in a barrel. Left Sunday morning before the chaos. I don't condone this behavior, but I totally understand why it happened.
“Pics or it never happened”
In 1993 a day ticket for SZIGET was just 300 ft now its 28.900 ft which is a lot for an avarage worker in Hungary.
I was in Hungary last week, most festival goers going to sziget aren't even Hungarian these days
Jarum yeah ppl get surprised when u say that youre from hungary lol
How do you make money as a "festival expert?"
By being a university professor.
You dont
normally i wait for the lineup but for outside lands i bought the eager beaver cause i just love the festival! it truly is an awesome experience to me! and then i got lucky cause the lineup turned out hella good
8 millions !! For one festival and one artist. This is beyond insane.
As many of you said, if people were not ready to pay that much it would go down
That 8 million figure was from Coachella right? That 8 mill is about 1 percent of ticket sales..
Here in germany, small and cheap festivals are all the rage. You can go to a weekend festival and pay 80€.
Supply and Demand. This is Free Market. It’s not like some authority is forcing the mass to max out their credit cards for this organised activity.
''unique experience'' dude ever heard of tomorrowland
A musicfest is to music as a carpet is to a car
I haven't finished this video, but it is so informative and eye opening. Great video so far!
8,000,000 wow i thought she was paid like max 1 dang 😂
Yeah but she probably had to split that with other people
She has a huge production crew, who needs pay. She doesn't just go on stage alone and sing. Before the concert a huge crew builds the stage, she brings everything from instruments to light. The rest of the band needs pay aswell.
aye I never thought about it really but holy heck, I guess it makes sense with all the clothes and crew/setting up but woah😂
@@allmonti9861 the clothes don't cost anything compared to the actual production, it's like comparing a water bottle to a massive swimming pool, or a row boat to a yacht
@@MikuHatsune12 True her outfits were probably only between $10-20,000 which would be quite a small part of the total cost, I was just listing random things smarty pants but thanks for clarifying :)
I've been to many festivals since I turned 18 years old. Yes, most of the time I buy my festival ticket based on the lineup, but I can promise you everybody attending the festival could listen to these artists in any other way, Soundcloud, TH-cam, Spotify, whatever.
The experience, the atmosphere, the day/weekend/week of escape from daily routine make people come back to festivals every single time.
I've been to Mysteryland 3 times in a row now, and honestly, this year's lineup was pretty shit. Nevertheless, I had one of my greatest Mysteryland experiences this year.
Your videos never disappoint my intelligence
Odd. I actually quite detest festivals BECAUSE of the ambiance. I have yet to experience one that hasn't felt like the longest day ever with uncomfortable and punishing conditions. The lineup is the only thing that's ever reeled me in.
Me after buying my Ultra ticket.
"So what are the exorbitantly fees for then"
This video, in fact this whole series, is so well-made.
I’d love it if this video had credits, or if there were credits in the description. Whoever made it needs to get recognized.
Quite an interesting video. Ruined by the plinkety plonk plucking music that every documentary uses nowadays.
The festival market is over crowded, the costs high and the risk of not selling enough tickets is always there.
thats why i like festivals like senstation black in the 2000s because the overall experience was more about different themes and stories like they had a future scifi space theme with aliens and so on
To be honest, I don't think festivals are expensive considering all the organisation needed and how much you have to pay the acts. For most of the acts you'd pay £30 for their own gig
Olivia Smitherman yeah, but if you were to attend the artist’s gig, you’d see them perform for about 2 hours or even more, whereas at festivals they perform what? 4-5 songs? 15-20 mins max
stn opl at glastonbury there sets are an hour at least
Spirit JRM yeah, i’m sure it depends on the festival, but most of them don’t have concert like performances, so there’s not really a point in taking into consideration how much you’d pay for a gig ticket vs festival ticket imo
@@stnopl1178 True but a lot of big festivals are starting to allow artists to bring their own set. Coachella is known for this. All big to medium stage acts were able to bring their unique stage set up for their 1+ set.
Bach Nguyen ohh i see! didn’t know much about coachella
This is very contradictory in itself. 2:42 - an independent festival vs a “corporate” festival is going to profit even more since their production is in house, higher ticket price, lower food/drink/necessity cost.
Where the 50x example is brought up. It’s not wrong... but that means Coachella only needs $80-130 for what you end up paying. $400+ for way past the point of breaking even.
Lastly... if you do your research... 60%+ of festivals in the US are owned by the likes of AEG, LiveNation, Goldenvoice, Ultra, and all subsidiaries.
It’s expensive for one reason only, people pay for it. Supply and demand. As long as that keeps going prices go up.
Though I wasn't even born in the 60s and 70s, I can see that nowadays people only come to music festival just for the aesthetic more than the 'music'. I wouldn't want to go to a place packed with sweaty human beings just to 'feel the aesthetic and experience', I want to see my favourite musicians performing on stage!
Distractions to what is really going on
The problem with modern music festivals is more and more people are too busy 'experiencing' i.e. talking through the music others paid a lot of money to see.
This reminded of Fyre Festival
Everybody needs to hear this!!!
Hard summer 2019. 170,000 festival goers at lest say a low cost of 100 dollars. What the hell does 17M dollars go to exactly 😂
EDC 2019. 450,000 attendees at a cost of 300 before taxes comes out to 135,000,000...
The artists need to get paid and they're not going to take any small payment
The needs for festivals are different per continent. In Europe people are truly going for the experience. When I was in Ibiza, I spoke with some Americans who were suprised that we liked so many dj's in Europe and we didn't care about artists as much as in America.
Meanwhile I have never been to a music festival. Oh well
save your money and purchase a ticket to a concert date on a tour by an artist you actually like, trust me it's more worth the money.
Lol I’m watching this as I’m running late to my job at an experiential marketing agency and didn’t expect to get a lesson on why we do what we do lo
Carbon emission per capita in western countries so high
You are correct, however steering into festivals, I have noticed the festival industry has acknowledged carbon contribution and have started to reducing their footprint. In Perth, Western Australia where I come from, most major music festivals have free public transport to and from the venue reducing the amount of car travel. As there are more younger people going to festivals, festival organisers are also trying to sell to the Eco friendly consumer.
But the most polluted places are in the East
@@carlosesteves9951 no its not ..western countries are most polluted .they send all there garbage in poir countries like Indonesia , sri lanla , phillipines ..
@@NitzVision Depends on the pollution type , mismanagement of waste is higher in developing countries with less structured waste removal, Western countries contribute to more CO2 emissions due to cars and air travel and meat consumption.
@@NitzVision make garbage , receive garbage are garbage... point is pollution is higher in those undeveloped places and the systems or thought process to fix that are not in place there... CHINA/India vs USA / Canada... bro no question which of those nations are cleaner and capable of making more so vs choking in on and from filth
agrarian economy of commodity -> industrial economy of goods -> service economy -> experience economy
It's actually ridiculous that back in the day the music quality was better and they got paid less. The example of jimmy hendrix just made me think
Jimi Hendrix was a true legend
I doubt they got paid less. They simply made money in other ways. Jimmy Hendrix probably made the majority of his money through record sales, merch, etc.
ive been to probly over 50 outdoor music festivals. Lots of fun, money, people, and everything else you can think of
Ive been at Electric Love Festival in Austria and I loved it 😍
Even made my own aftermovie 👍🏻
The experience was just amazing
Thank you for sharing!! I have ideas for my dissertation now
So people are spending 248 pounds just to click a selfie and post it on Instagram?
It's called being someone today. 'Fit in to stand out'. Read that sign the other day here in the dystopian Netherlands. Where people smile all the time and still use shitloads of antidepressants. One of the happiest nation that is also one of the most depressed. How ironic, isn't it?
You might have skipped the part where they were talking about experiences as a service
@@leandroboog1311 You might have skipped the sarcasm in my comment.
thx so much for the valuable video. as a dance music festival maniac, this clip helped me a lot to solve some of my curiosities.
Boomtown is the best festival in the world
Tomorrowland :P
Dominator
ticketmaster greed is a big problem. i feel sad for todays youth. I grew up in the 70s, we made our own experiences. We had field parties, an open field, a flatbed truck a generator and some kocal bands (and kegs of cheap beer)
festivals becoming mainstream and the "thing" to do, ruined them
StaciMay it may have ruined it for you but not for me
@@Jake-jm4jm Haha have fun paying small fortunes for tickets and commodities because those organizers rob people like you
StaciMay ok ? And I don’t care
can confirm that £250 for Glastonbury is the biggest bargain going
Festivals are more expensive because of celebrities guesting the event
Can you please make a video to explain why these expos are so expensive, like siggraph, CES, comic con, they don’t even hire super stars. The vendors actually pay the organizers to get in for the exposure opportunities.
Seems like consumers are just trained to pay that much at this point
I find it quite ridiculous that some music festivals actually start selling presale tickets WITHOUT announcing the acts. And there are people who buy these tickets. I guess these are the people that come for the experience? But I find it unfair that people who truly come for the music have to pay a higher price ticket as those presale tickets are quickly sold out :/
It's betting on the hand without seeing the flop. I understand it, but I hate it. =P
Out of the couple dozen of music festivals I’ve been to, around 70% of the time I can say it was truly worth the experience.
Borna Mofid What festivals have you been too?